Pacific Coast Highway: route, stops and how long to take

San Francisco to Los Angeles the slow way, with Big Sur in the middle.

Distance

About 500 miles / 800 km

Time needed

4–6 days

Best time to drive

September and October — clear skies after the summer fog, and thinner traffic than July

The stretch of Highway 1 between San Francisco and Los Angeles is the most over-photographed road in America and still worth doing. The reason is Big Sur: ninety miles of cliff road with almost no development, where the driving itself is the attraction rather than the transit between attractions.

Drive it north to south so the ocean is on your side of the road and the pull-outs are right-hand turns. Check Caltrans before you commit — Highway 1 through Big Sur closes for landslides more often than people expect, sometimes for months.

The stops

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Pacific Coast Highway: route, stops and how long to take

San Francisco to Los Angeles the slow way, with Big Sur in the middle.

Distance

About 500 miles / 800 km

Time needed

4–6 days

Best time to drive

September and October — clear skies after the summer fog, and thinner traffic than July

The stops

San FranciscoOVERNIGHT

Start here, pick up the car on the way out rather than paying city parking for two days.

Santa Cruz

Boardwalk, surf, and the last cheap food before the coast gets expensive.

Monterey and CarmelOVERNIGHT

Aquarium, 17-Mile Drive, and the last full-service town before Big Sur.

Big SurOVERNIGHT

Bixby Bridge, McWay Falls, Pfeiffer Beach. No fuel for long stretches and almost no signal.

Hearst Castle and San Simeon

Tours book out; the elephant seal rookery next door is free and better.

Morro Bay and San Luis ObispoOVERNIGHT

Cheaper overnight than the coast towns, and good for a slow morning.

Santa BarbaraOVERNIGHT

Wine country detour inland, or beaches and Spanish architecture in town.

Malibu into Los Angeles

The last coastal run. Time it to hit LA outside rush hour or the final hour will take three.

Book Big Sur accommodation first — there are very few rooms and they set the shape of the whole trip
Fill the tank in Monterey and again in Cambria; Big Sur fuel is scarce and expensive
Download offline maps: there is genuinely no service for long stretches
Check Caltrans road conditions for Highway 1 closures before finalising nights

Four people in one car turns an expensive trip into a reasonable one, but Big Sur accommodation doesn't scale — you'll likely need two rooms. Sort the driving rotation and the fuel-splitting rule on day one, and keep the night-by-night bookings somewhere everyone can see, because there's no signal to sort it out on the road.

How many days do you need to drive the Pacific Coast Highway?

Four days is the minimum to enjoy it; five or six lets you stop properly in Big Sur and Santa Barbara instead of driving past them.

Should you drive the PCH north to south or south to north?

North to south. The ocean is on your right, which means the scenic pull-outs are easy right-hand turns instead of crossing traffic.

Is Highway 1 through Big Sur ever closed?

Frequently. Landslides close sections for weeks or months at a time, so check Caltrans conditions before you book non-refundable nights.

Pacific Coast Highway: route, stops and how long to take

The stops

Pacific Coast Highway: route, stops and how long to take

The stops

Logistics worth sorting first

Driving this with a group

Common questions